Immigrant Welfare Use Has Fallen

March 10, 1999

Legal immigrants and refugees are leaving welfare at a faster pace than other recipients, says a new study from the Urban Institute. The 1996 federal welfare reform law limited the availability of some federal means-tested benefits to legal immigrants.

Between 1994 and 1997, welfare use dropped 35 percent among noncitizens, compared with a 14 percent drop among citizens.

Despite the protections for refugees incorporated into welfare reform, refugees experienced a decline of 33 percent -- at least as steep as that of the noncitizen population as a whole.

There were similar disparities in the drop in Medicaid and food stamp use between citizens and noncitizens.

However, welfare use among elderly immigrants and naturalized citizens did not appear to change between 1994 and 1997.

Since there was no increase in immigrants' earnings or changes in naturalization procedures -- indicating the former welfare recipients did not get better jobs or become citizens -- the study's authors conclude that confused immigrants were giving up public benefits to which they were still entitled, possibly out of fear they would be deported.